I hope you all had a delightful Thanksgiving and break. It's important to rest, regroup and spend time with friends and family.
Behavior/student posture incentive plan: we will continue our plan this trimester with popsicle sticks in order to earn individual points as well as points for the class for popcorn and a movie. Each student is given 2 popsicle sticks at the start of every day. Students who keep their popsicle sticks throughout the day receive points as does the class. The loss of a popsicle stick or sticks results when a student is disrespectful, talks during instruction, blurts out, doesn't follow directions, disrupts, passes notes, or uses the bathroom unnecessarily to avoid class, for example. Students who lose 2 sticks in a day are given an "uh oh" sheet filled out by the teacher to inform home of what happened and why. Your parent initial is respectfully requested on these, and they are to be returned the next day by the student. The hope is to encourage high student posture and to keep communications with home open. If you are not seeing "uh oh" sheets, your student is on target. If you have received such a sheet talk to your child to set expectations. And, please, feel free to contact me as well if you need further explanation.
ELA: we will start reading/analyzing our literature book: Sign of the Beaver. We are working on jots (note taking from the text and elaboration). In addition, we continue to honor our VIP each week and listen and respond to presentations by students and practice writing friendly letters.
Lucy Calkin's Reading Homework: please look for reading homework over the month. We will be researching events prior to The American Revolution which is the theme/topic of this unit of study. Some of our online links:
Give me liberty or give me death speech:
Sam Adam’s speech:
No more king!
SC Symphony: daily musical compositions are introduced and enjoyed every morning.
Mindfulness: best practices in mindfulness are being incorporated in our classroom this year.
Harmony: best practices school-wide curriculum for building a strong social-emotional community within our classrooms.
AR Reading: Accelerated Reader continues to be an important part of our reading program. Students are reading appropriate AR books found through the AR book find link and then quizzing on them within 24 hours of finishing their book. It is critical to support your child in book selection (most books are in our school and classroom libraries) and to remind them to read, read, read whenever the opportunity arises--in the car, while waiting for an appt., to and from school, before bed time, on a Sunday in your jammies, etc. These books should travel to and from the classroom in a daily fashion for classroom DEAR (drop everything and read) sessions as well as nightly reading homework and beyond. Students have a goal of 14 points for the second trimester. Each book has a certain amount of points it is worth. This information is listed with reading level and appropriateness (grade school, middle school, high school, for example). Points per book range from 3 to 5, generally, with longer books being worth more points. On an average this is going to mean your child is reading anywhere from 3-5 books a Trimester. That said, help your child select books that are on their reading level (their latest DRA2 level), and have high interest for them. This will allow them to accomplish reading books from start to finish successfully.
Math: we are working on division in 4th and 5th grade. We will then be enbarking on fractions before break. Please check your child's planner for specific page numbers. We will continue to review these concepts. POM solving and presentations (problem of the month) continue. Silicon Valley Math Initiative (SVMI) MARS tasks continue all year.
**Keep Practicing: students are expected to have their times tables memorized.
Science: wrap up of electromagnets with assessments in the month of December. New unit of study--Solid Earth will begin in January.
Social Studies: Dovetail with Lucy Calkin's reading program on special research projects (individual and group) on the events prior to The American Revolution.
Writing: summary writing continues throughout the year and persuasive essays and debates center around the events prior to The American Revolution.
Grammar: Study of various grammar: prepositions, nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives. Figurative language: simile, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia.
Upcoming Announcements/Events:
Dec. 6--6:30 Parent Club meeting
Dec. 8--6-8:30 Holiday Night
Dec. 14--12:00 Mt. Spelling Bee
Dec. 14--7:00 3rd Play
Dec. 20--11:00 Holiday Sing
Dec. 22 - Jan. 5 Winter Break
Thank you for supporting me and the growth of your child in every way.
Warmly,
Mrs. Young
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